Ecologists have grave concerns for hundreds of fish and native eels on the NSW South Coast after a major fuel spill.
On the evening of June 6, a fuel tanker travelling on Budgong Road west of Nowra ruptured its load on a rock shelf near a causeway, spilling about 2,500 litres of fuel into a nearby creek.
Days after the incident, ecologist Nicholas Carlile discovered dozens of dead fish, native eels and hundreds of deceased shrimp in pools of contaminated water.
Fish found dead at a creek near the site of a major fuel spill at Budgong, west of Nowra. (Supplied: Nicholas Carlile)
“The smell of diesel was quite strong,” he said.
“It hadn’t been cleaned up at all.“
While he counted more than 20 dead fish and several dead native eels, Mr Carlile has fears hundreds more could be affected.
“It seems that there is a major kill in that part of the creek. I assume that there are hundreds of fish [impacted],” he said.
A dead native eel Nicholas Carlile discovered in Budgong Creek after a fuel spill. (Supplied: Nicholas Carlile)
The NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) says it is investigating the incident, with officers collecting fish and water samples for testing on June 11.
Residents perplexed
Just eight days earlier, another fuel tanker became stuck on the obscure rural road and required assistance from the Rural Fire Service.
Both incidents have perplexed residents, who are concerned a lack of signage is causing heavy vehicles to take the narrow dirt road by mistake.
A causeway on Budgong Road over a creek where about 2,500 litres of fuel was spilled. (Supplied: Denise Meldrum)
The trucking company allegedly responsible for the spill on June 6 is Can Do Petroleum, whose sole director is Halal Fawaz.
When contacted for comment, Mr Fawaz directed questions to a safety consultant hired by the company to investigate the incident.
The consultant told the ABC the tanker was scheduled to transport fuel from Botany Bay in Sydney to a petrol station in Kangaroo Valley.
A tanker that became stuck on a separate section of the road eight days before the spill. (Supplied)
Instead, the tanker became stuck on the rural dirt road 30 kilometres south of its planned destination.
The company did not respond to additional questions from the ABC before publication.
Budgong resident Denise Meldrum said the incident was unprecedented for the rural town of about 80 people.
“It might be a coincidence, but we’ve never seen fuel tankers in Budgong before,” she said.
Mrs Meldrum said roadworks introducing weight restrictions across some regular routes near Kangaroo Valley might explain the mystery.
“Drivers without local knowledge would probably be following the GPS and not realise it’s not an appropriate road,” she said.
“You need a four-wheel drive to access it without damaging your car and really good clearance.
“It wouldn’t be a road I’d be trying to drive a tanker through.”
The EPA is investigating reports of a fish kill following the incident. (Supplied: NSW Rural Fire Service)
She said residents had petitioned Shoalhaven City Council for more than a decade to formally classify the road as being unsuitable for heavy vehicles.
“They could just turn around and take a major thoroughfare instead of this goat track,” she said.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the council said it would take enforcement action against the company following the alleged pollution incident.
Petrol station explosion
ASIC documents reveal Halal Fawaz is also the sole director of a separate trucking company Nour Corporation.
SafeWork NSW lodged legal action against the company last year, following an explosion at a petrol station in South Sydney in 2023.
More than 60 firefighters were called to Lindesay Street at Campbelltown on February 24, after a fire started as a tanker was delivering fuel to the petrol station.
The aftermath of a fire that destroyed a petrol station in Campbelltown in 2023. (ABC News)
Court documents reveal the regulator alleged the company had failed to create an exclusion zone around the tanker as it was delivering fuel or supplying adequate training for employees.
Nour Corporation pleaded guilty to two breaches of the Work Health and Safety Act, conceding it had exposed several people to the risk of death or serious injury.
Both offences carry a maximum financial penalty of $2,983,854 in total.
A date is yet to be set for sentencing.
